Jake King free to make his own decisions: Tigers

Sports writer with The Age

Jake King .... no official warning for the Tiger. Photo: Mal Fairclough

Richmond chief executive Brendon Gale has declared he would prefer Jake King does not mix with an outlaw bikie boss but admits it's a decision only King can make.

King was captured on camera last week chatting with former Bandidos biker club sergeant-at-arms Toby Mitchell at Docklands. The pair had also been watching a women's lingerie American football game at AAMI Park in December.

The Tigers have not given their small forward an official warning as he has recently met with Mitchell outside of his time at the club.

"We never issued a warning to Jake about who he can mix with and who he can't. We haven't issued any bans. That's away from the work place, his duty as a footballer," Gale said on 3AW on Tuesday.

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"I have been very open with Jake. I would prefer he wouldn't mix with these types of people, particularly in light of the (Australian) Crime Commission report and incidents last year of organised crime.

"They are Jake's choices. I respect that and, as I have said, he has to own them."

Their friendship became public when King invited Mitchell into the Richmond rooms following the Tigers' win over the Brisbane Lions in round 20 at the MCG last season. The Tigers were unimpressed.

"Jake had an incident last year where he bought someone to the rooms in Toby Mitchell. We prefer he would not come to our rooms and (it) was made very clear to him that will not happen again," Gale said.

"We have a duty to provide a safe work place for all of our staff and stakeholders.

"But, so far as who Jakes mixes with in his own time and his own private capacity, that's up to him and that's the choices he makes provided he acts in a lawful way, doesn't involve other players.

"We are very proud of Jake, from where he has come from, to where he is today but at the end of the day they are choices he has to make and he has to live with."